MH-228 Circus Vs. Andre Afram Asmar - Gawd Bless The Faceless CowardsGawd Bless The Faceless Cowards counters the left of left-field raps of Circus (head honcho of the Shapeshifters) with Andre Afram Asmar’s elaborate, dub inflected world-beats. The results collage the socially relevant tones and playfulness of daisy-age hip-hop with the otherworldly word and sound barrage of space-rap. Asmar’s bed of glitchy, expertly processed rhythms pulse and flow as Circus' stream of consciousness lyrics dissect religious dogma, political power struggles, alien abductions, reptilian invaders, doomed relationships, and sucker MCs. A true collaboration, both artists veer slightly from their established forms to produce this strange and often hilarious joyride.

Tracklist

01. Bully

02. Army Of Fresh

03. We Are Not Alone

04. Sex In Space

05. Nobody Special

06. Biblical Proof Of UFOs

07. Holy Blood

08. Who Killed Me???

09. Club Lights

10. Sir Romancealot

11. Smell The Ro$e$

12. Redeemer

Release Details

Release Date: 06/15/2004

Running Time: 58:18

Download/Available/$7.00

2XLP/Available/$10.00

CD/Available/$10.00

LOSSLESS/Available/$10.00

Territory: World

Reviews Summary

This is an ambitious, highly intelligent record - Metro.Pop / Highly recommended - In the Mix / Very Compelling - Impact Press / Better than any other anti-Bush record this year - CMJ / Circus's most accessible release to date - Exclaim! / A mind-bending lyrical and musical journey - Tucson Citizen

Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowards teams the raving prophet/ranting paranoid lunatic emceeing of Circus with the mad-scientist sonic creations of producer Andre Afram Asmar. The result is a mind-bending lyrical and musical journey. Circus' central lyrical preoccupations are UFOs, aliens (especially E.T., whom he seems to consider comparable to Jesus), God, Jesus, the wreckage that is the current state of world affairs and an unnamed woman who dumped him because her friends and family considered him a loser. Many of these topics frequently collide on the same song, making for stream-of-consciousness rapping that can leave the listener's mind whirling. Asmar underscores Circus' brain-twisting lyrics with a collage of electronic outerspace beats, sci-fi movies sound bites, throbbing bass and thudding drum beats and, on one track, what sounds like someone beating on a pipe with a hammer. Standout tracks include "Sex in Space," "Biblical Proof of UFOs," "Who Killed Me," "Smell the Roses," and "Redeemer." Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowards is as far from mainstream hip-hop as can be, which in this case is a good thing. - Tucson Citizen